One in a Crowd: "Slow Creep"

Back a 35mm production, plus a Found Footage 3D update

The reports of the death of 35mm have been greatly exaggerated. With filmmakers and archivists swinging for the fences to bring it back, add new UT short "Slow Creep" to the pushback against digital.

Writer/director Jim Hickcox has previously shot four short films, all on 16mm. This time, for his graduating thesis from UT's MFA program, he wants to shoot on 35mm. That way, he'll get the 1994 look he's aiming for, which also means the monster will be a practical effect, created by local FX mavens Hawgfly.

However, none of that's cheap. The project has already received a grant from the Austin Film Society, the Kodak Film Award for $3,000 in film stock, but they still have to cover the processing and transfer costs. Even with that and student loans, they're still trying to raise $7,000 in crowdfunding.

However, this an unusual genre project, featuring both an African-American cast and a gay relationship. Producer Makena Buchanan explains, "The film itself is a charming, if grisly, story about a 15-year-old girl who, being a horror fan, has just found a very rare VHS tape and is excited to watch it with her brother. He, however, plans to take advantage of a night without parents by inviting his boyfriend over. Neither of them gets what they’re hoping for, though, when the tape turns out to be haunted by the titular Slow Creep: a disgusting, slimy, disintegrating, shuffling monster."

Principal photography began Nov. 7 at Vulcan Video, so any help you can send before their campaign wraps up on Dec. 3 would be totally appreciated. Drop by their Kickstarter page, or visit www.foulsanctum.com for more details. Here's Hickox himself to explain the project.

Speaking of making convincing scares, local production Found Footage 3D has been getting national attention for its fundraising campaign (including coverage in The Hollywood Reporter and Huffington Post). They're three-fourths of the way to raising the $35,000 needed to pay for a pivotal effect, a trailer, and festival submissions. With the added buzz, they've extended their fundraising deadline by an extra 10 days to Nov. 21, so people can take advantage of their most innovative perk: Contribute $250, and the filmmakers will re-create a classic horror sequence of your choosing on zero budget.

First up, one of the defining moments in cinema history: The shower sequence from Psycho, with FF 3D director Steven Degennaro standing in as Janet Leigh's much hairier body double.

Find out more about the project, plus see their shoestring re-creations of famous moments from Scanners and A Nightmare on Elm Street over at the film's Indiegogo page. Also read about our recent set visit, Found Footage 3D Wraps, July 18.

One in a Crowd is a series intended to showcase Texas film and tech projects that are crowdfunding their way to a goal, be it distribution, a prototype, or production costs. If you have a project that we should know about, email us at filmflam@austinchronicle.com.

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